Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Soldier from St. Johns, Michigan who served in Co. A, Twenty-third Michigan Infantry during the Civil War, later Regent of University of Michigan, teacher, lawyer, Republican member of Congress from Michigan, and U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. Correspondence, letterpress books; scrapbooks; genealogy, speeches, memoirs, and miscellaneous items; also scattered papers of his wife's family (Mary Cecilia Swegles Spaulding).

The Oliver Lyman Spaulding papers consists of correspondence, letterpress books, scrapbooks, genealogy, speeches, memoirs, and miscellaneous items; also scattered papers of his wife's family (Mary Cecilia Swegles Spaulding). The collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Topical Files; Letterpress books, scrapbooks, diaries, etc.; Swegles Family papers; Photographs; and Masonic artifacts. Portions of the collection covering the years, 1861-1865, have been microfilmed and are available for inter-library loan.

Three diaries (1862-1865) tell of the everyday routine of army life, military operations in Kentucky, and comment on the weather, on the freeing of the slaves, and on other officers. Spaulding's "Military Memoirs" give a complete account of his army activities from the organization of his regiment through the Kentucky and Tennessee campaigns to his discharge. A testimonial (June 22, 1865) from officers of the 2nd Brigade, written at Salisbury, N.C., orders, official correspondence, and miscellanea regarding Morgan's Raid are also included. Also included in the collection are three letters from civilians in Charleston, S.C., describing the attack on Fort Sumter and other events of the beginning of the war. Two letters (Mar. 22 and Apr. 9, 1861) are from W. T. Adams, and the other (Oct. 24, 1861) is from Richard D. Tuttle.

A diary (1864-1865) written while Carpenter was serving in Company E, 4th Michigan Cavalry. Includes a concise report of each day's activities; entries describe army life (including foraging and skirmishing), his daily job of horseshoeing, the battle of Selma, and the capture of Jefferson Davis in May 1865.

Soldier in the Third Michigan Cavalry stationed at San Antonio, Texas during the Civil War. Diary describing his Civil War activities, return to Michigan, and school work at Albion College.

Diary describing his daily routines while stationed in San Antonio, Texas during the Civil War as well as his return to Michigan and school work at Albion College.

Grand Rapids, Michigan family, involved in furniture making and other businesses, also active in local state and Republican Party politics and businessmen's associations. Papers include family papers and correspondence, business records, scrapbooks and visual materials.

The Sligh family collection consists of the personal and business papers of the four generations of Slighs mentioned in the biographical introduction: James W. Sligh, Charles R. Sligh, Charles R. Sligh, Jr., and Robert L. Sligh. Although there is some overlap, the files have been arranged into seven series, one for each of these three Slighs, one for the Sligh Furniture Company and related family businesses, and one each for Newspaper clippings and Scrapbooks, and Visual Materials.

Student at University of Michigan, 1855-1858, officer in Co. F, 24th Michigan Infantry and correspondent for the Detroit Free Press during the Civil War. Student letters and other correspondence, notes on baseball games played in Detroit, Michigan, in 1867, diary of a trip to Detroit in 1854, diary of daily activities in New Hampshire in 1856, newspaper clippings of war reports, edition of temperance newspaper which he published himself; and drawings.

The Green papers concern his activities at the University of Michigan in the 1850s and his Civil War service. The collection consists of correspondence, diaries, clippings, and miscellaneous. Of interest is a folder of line drawings depicting Civil War scenes.

Original and typescript of diaries (1862-1865) written while Boston was serving in Company H, 20th Michigan Infantry. The entries are chiefly descriptions of army life and battles in the campaign of Fredericksburg, first and second Kentucky campaigns, Vicksburg, the Wilderness, and Petersburg. National Park Service maps with a synopsis of the campaigns have been added to the typescript copy. The April 22, 1863 entry speaks of Frank Thompson (Sarah E. E. Seelye) as their brigade postmaster. The collection also contains thirty-seven letters (Jan. 1863-Apr. 1865) written to his aunts while Boston was serving in the 20th Michigan Infantry. He was sick and in hospital camps before Petersburg; once there, he gives accounts of activities there (Sept. 1864-Apr. 1865): picket duty, building fortifications, battles. He comments on food, the coming election, an African American regiment, General Burnside, the Sanitary and Christian Commissions, boxes from home, prisoners, the draft, and the reaction to the death of Lincoln. He describes two Thanksgiving dinners, and especially the fall of Petersburg. The collection also include's Boston's discharge certificate from the Union Army.